Youngstown, OH

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INAUGURAL GRANT WINNER SELECTED!

The trustees of Awesome Foundation Youngstown are proud to announce that local artist Kristina Nicholas is the winner of our inaugural $1,000 grant for her project submission “Craft for Humanity: Creativity with a Mission!”
As detailed in her submission, Kristina’s humanitarian and eco-friendly project seeks to teach people the art form of crochet by creating sleeping mats made of plarn, or upcycled (creative reuse) plastic shopping bags, and giving them to people in need. Each sleeping mat is expected to keep 500-700 plastic bags out of the landfill. Kristina will use her award money to purchase equipment such as scissors, crochet needles, and customized, 3D Printed crochet needles produced by local resources.

Kristina hopes that her project will “give access to children and adults of all ages to the art form of crocheting while also using creativity to provide sleeping mats to individuals and organizations that need help. This project would focus on involving city of Youngstown church groups, knitting and/or crochet groups, youth groups, nursing homes, Youngstown City School children, Youngstown State University students, and more.”

St. Vincent De Paul Society’s W Front Street location has agreed to be a drop-off site for plastic grocery bag donations and distribution site for the finished plarn sleeping mats by giving them to those in need. Kristina’s goal is to produce 1,000 plarn sleeping mats for Youngstown’s less fortunate.

Plastic bags can be delivered to St. Vincent De Paul Society located at 208 W Front St., Youngstown, Ohio 44503. Awesome Foundation Youngstown is fiscally sponsored by the Economic Action Group, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. If you are interested in donating financial resources, please contact info@eagworks.org.

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We all know how Awesome it is to live, work and play in the City of Youngstown! This dedicated group wants to help those who can make our community even better with just a little help from some friends.

Awesome Foundation Youngstown will be giving out an annual grant (in its first year) of $1000 to an individual or group who can articulate and deliver great projects to make our City even more vibrant and awesome to live in. Have an idea? Please fill out an application!!

Please note that we do not typically fund: travel, salaries, or living expenses. PLEASE ALSO NOTE THAT PROJECTS BASED IN THE CITY OF YOUNGSTOWN TAKE PRIORITY. PROJECTS THAT UTILIZE THE CREATIVE ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY ARE ALSO GIVEN PRIORITY.

If you have a question about the application process, please email us at youngstown@awesomefoundation.org. Those unable to complete the application online are encouraged to e-mail as well.